152 A LOST SENSE RECOVERED 



I read of an instance of this reversion of the brain 

 to a past state — a recovery of a lost sense. It occurred 

 to a man, a dweller in a town, who went with a friend 

 for an autumn holiday in a forest district in North 

 America. They camped on the borders of a forest at 

 a distance from any settlement, and the narrator, 

 taking his gun, went off alone into the woods to 

 look for something to shoot. He spent long hours 

 in the forest, and at last when he was deep in it, 

 surrounded on all sides by trees, and remembered 

 that he had taken many turns, it suddenly came on 

 him with a shock that he was lost, miles distant 

 probably from his starting-point, and had not the 

 faintest idea in which direction it was. He was 

 terribly distressed, for the day was drawing to a 

 close and he feared that to whichsoever side he 

 directed his steps it would perhaps only take him 

 further away. He fired several shots in the hope 

 that some hunter or someone looking for him would 

 hear them and come to his rescue. But no one came, 

 and no answering shot or shout broke the silence. 

 Then, when his distress was greatest, when he was 

 in despair, all at once a light came to him, a sudden 

 sense of relief, a feeling and a conviction that he knew 

 exactly which direction to take. So convinced was 

 he, that he set out not only confidently but gladly. 

 And his instinct proved right: he came out of the 

 wood and found the camp before him. 



This narrative interested me deeply, simply because 

 it so closely resembled an experience I once had — 

 the one and only time when I have known the full 



